Torn And Frayed
by NekoJinDriger
Summary: there mum has just died and now they have to move to Russia with their Grandpa.............. poop at summeries please R&R.
1. A Death

**It's getting hard to breathe; hard to breathe because of the humid air; hard to breathe from running for so long; hard to breathe from fighting off the tears; but mostly, it's hard to breathe... because I just found out my mother was killed in a car crash.**

We, that is to say, my brother and I, just got the call from Lakeview Hospital about her death. My brother, who answered the call, told me, in a raspy voice, that it was quick. That gives me little consolation.

_I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe they'll send us to grandpa's._

Yeah, Grandpa Voltaire.

He lives in Moscow. That might be okay...

Oh my God! I can't believe I'm thinking about living arrangements when I just found out my mother is dead!

Oh, God... I have to stop running.

Immediately, I fell to my knees onto the hard, tar road, panting loudly.

_But what am I gonna do? She was the only parent I had left!_

What am I gonna do?

Mommy... Mommy... Why'd you have to die? Why?

Tears stained the road a darker shade.

_I have to get back to Kai. My brother's going to need me now... I'm going to need _him_ now._

I pushed myself up, with great effort, swayed on the spot for a second, and turned to go back home.

"Kai?" I called, after stepping inside the house. "Kai? Are you home?"

"Yeah," he said, in a weak, quavering voice.

I followed my ears into the living room and found my brother holding a picture of Me, Mom, Dad, and him. It was a picture from when we were a happy family, a whole family. My dad had died from cancer shortly after it was taken, and now my mom was dead... Now, the family was broken. What had been a small crack before, had completely shattered... and broken.

I prayed to be put in the custody of Grandpa Voltaire. He was nice to us, most of the time when he wasent forcing us to practice and almost killing us with his training regimes. We would need that (sarcasm much?).

I just stared at the old photo for a while, and waited for Kai to speak first.

"You rushed out before I could tell you something else," he said, in a monotonic voice.

I looked up. Our identical chocolate colored eyes met for a second.

"They want us to come and identify the body," he said, in a very hushed voice, his eyes boring into mine fearfully.

"Oh, God," I whispered to myself. After a few deep breaths, I went on, "Let's get this over with."

"Alright, I'll drive."

The constant pain that had been poking me, and I knew had been poking him, like needles, burst something in me, and I argued, "Why do you get to drive?"

"Because I'm older." _The needles _have_ gotten to him, then._

"By two minutes!"

"I don't care, I'm driving."

"No."

"Let's not start this."

I sighed. "Fine. You can drive."

"Okay."

He somberly led the way to the door.

When we got to the Hospital, we clasped hands automatically, sensing each others' torment, and walked through the front doors to the front desk.

"May I help you?" asked the blonde secretary.

Kai took a deep breath, and said, "Our mother, Svetlana Hiwatari... We're supposed to identify the... the body."

I could see the tears well up in his eyes, and felt them come up in my own, but we both fought them back with all our strength.

"Oh," she said sympathetically, checking the computer. "Second floor, room 139."

"Thank you," I managed to murmur, as Kai pulled me to the elevator determinedly.

We stepped into room 139, where a doctor was waiting for us.

After brief introductions, he nodded and said to us, "Just say 'yes' or 'no.'"

It was our turn to nod.

My heart thumped in my chest and I began to feel sick as he started pulling the sheet off the body laying atop the table.

Before the face was revealed, I shut my eyes tight so _I_ could control when I looked.

Beside me, Kai faltered, wrapped his arms around me, and wept onto my shoulder. I knew, at that point, that it was her. I opened my eyes and saw her pale and scratched face, and her dark hair.

I began to cry, too, and, to assure the doctor, I let one small word escape my lips while speech was still possible to me:

"Yes."

The next day, we called all the relatives and broke the news.

Our Grandma, from my father's side (my maternal grandmother and grandfather had long since passed away), was with us within a matter of hours. She sorted everything out: the will, the funeral, the obituary... everything.

"Thank you, Grandma," I said that night, once everything was handled.

"Of course, sweetie," she replied, pulling me into a hug. "Where's Kai?" she asked once we'd parted.

"In his room," I informed her. Kai had been there a lot, lately... his room, I mean. I would have been in my room, too, if I didn't think it disrespectful to my caring grandmother who'd driven to us all by herself from Uptown.

After a long silence, in which Grandma Wendy seemed to be struggling over something internally, she said with careful words, "Zoe, dear... I'd like to tell you something about your mother's wishes, if you can handle it, at the moment."

I inhaled deeply, and said, "Okay."

Grandma Wendy nodded, and continued after a brief pause, "She left everything to you and Kai. This means that you two will inherit everything once you've turned 18. Until then, you'll be staying with your Grandpa Voltaire in Moscow. It's what your mother wanted... Are you okay with that, honey?"

"Yeah," I replied in a croaky voice. "Grandpa Voltaire was nice... the last time we met him."

"Okay," said Grandma Wendy, rubbing my back consolingly. "I'm glad you feel that way. Now, I think you need some sleep. I'll go tell Kai, so you don't have to, okay?"

I nodded. "Thanks Grandma. For everything."

With that, I headed up to my bedroom.

------------------------------

The funeral, on July 18, three days after the accident, was nothing short of excruciating anguish for Kai and I. Somehow, though, we managed not to scream, but we broke into silent tears so much, that I thought that surely, our tear ducts would have to give in sooner or later.

When it was over, I was so relieved that I could get away from all the half-hearted pity, and the constant, "I'm so sorry"'s from my relatives. I knew none of them actually knew what it was like, and I knew none of them _could_ be truly sorry for that reason.

I was glad that I would be leaving China for Russia, soon... I would get to leave all the painful memories behind at least until Kai and I turned 18 next June. I didn't know how much more of the needles I could take.

To distract myself, I began packing for the trip tomorrow. I even started to wonder about what the new school would be like... Though... I didn't really like my conclusions.

_I'll be the new girl in Senior year. Great. Isn't Senior year supposed to be fun? Well, I suppose it never was going to be in the first place, so I don't know what I'm complaining about..._

Don't think that, it might still work out.

Whatever. No one is really going to accept me for who I am, just because of the way I dress... They'll probably shun Kai, too.

I wish people weren't like that. But, who cares? I don't really need friends, right? I have Kai, he won't betray me he doesnt exactly open to anyone easily anyway he never speaks to anyone but me. Plus, it's just school, and it'll only be for about a year. Maybe Kai and I can even meet some people prior to school starting.

Yeah, right. Like that's_ going to happen._

C'mon, it might.

I already know they won't accept me.

Stop that. Not everyone are preps.

I don't even care, anymore. I'm just going to go to sleep...

Wait. Is everything packed?

I checked my luggage, making sure I had all the essentials. Grandma Wendy would send anything else we needed to us through Fed-Ex, or something.

_Okay, everything's packed. _Now_ I can go to sleep._

After my brief anal moment, I drifted off to sleep.

----------------------------

Grandma Wendy was going to take care of the house for us, while we were gone. She would only come over about once a month, but, it would do... since she was already going out of her way to help us as it was.

I sort of wondered why we weren't staying with her, but, I guessed that if my mom had given death much thought- and I was sure she had, with the death of my father, and everything- then she probably would have decided that living in a mainly retired neighborhood wouldn't have suited us.

After a few goodbyes, and promises of phone calls, Kai and I were off to Moscow.


	2. A New Friend

The flight to Moscow took about 8 hours, and once we reached grandpa Voltaire's, Kai and I were weary. Partly, we were weary from the long trip, but mostly, we were weary from missing Mom so much, though, the pain had dulled over the past four days, only catching up to us every now and then in stinging spurts, like needles.

"Kai! Zoe!" came the deep grough voice of Voltaire "I'm so sorry about your mother's death, and I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral"

"Thanks Grandpa Voltaire," I yawned. "Where should we put our stuff?"

"I've had Lou set up rooms for you both!" he exclaimed excitedly; he had obviously gotten over his tears, already. "And Paul will take your things in for you. You just take anything you need for the night."

Grandpa Voltaire ushered us inside and pointed us in the direction of our rooms (down the hall directly on the left as soon as you stepped into the foyer), but, before we could head over there, he was giving us the tour.

It was nice to have someone who was happy to see us, and not showing all their false pity.

His house was a three-story home that was filled with very modern furnishings. There were 6 bedrooms: the two on the first floor belonged to Kai and me and four on the second floor (one was Grandpa Voltaires, and one had belonged to Mariah, the other 2 were guest rooms). The third floor was just an attic.

There were also five bathrooms. There were three bathrooms on the main floor (mine, Kai's, and one for general use), and two on the second floor for Grandpa Voltaire.

The kitchen was on the first floor, along with the living room. the living room had nearly a full wall of windows, and a sliding glass door that overlooked the back yard, where a trampoline was visible.

_Probably for Mariah's kids._

When we finally got around to our rooms, I was amazed at how much Grandpa Voltaire had done in the four days or rather had Lou do that he'd been aware of our arrival.

Both my room, and Kai's room were fully designed.

I didn't get a very good look at Kai's room, but, at a glance, I noticed that he had a full-sized bed, a TV, a stereo, a computer, and an Xbox.

Before I got to see my room, I asked Grandpa Voltaire, in awe, "How did you do all this in four days?"

"Zoe," he said. "It was nothing. Since Mariah has long since moved out, I made it my sole mission to get your rooms ready once I heard you were coming."

"That's really sweet of you," I said, hand now on my room's silver doorknob. "But you didn't have to _buy_ things for us."

"Zoe," he said, with a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to worry about that at all. As you can see, we are well-off, and I think it's nice to give gifts every once-in-a-while. All I ask is that you _enjoy_ my gifts, then I'll be happy."

"Alright," I said, pushing open my door. Once I turned on the light, I couldn't help but gasp; it was so cool.

I guess my mom had told Grandpa Voltaire at some point that I liked rock music, because that was definitely the theme of the room. the walls were painted dark green, and held pictured of all sorts of guitars, and various pictures of famous rock bands. There was a desk next to the door that held a very modern-looking white computer, and a neon sign that said 'Hard Rock Hotel' on it. After I switched that on, I jumped onto my full-sized bed, with a black satin cover, and cotton sheets, underneath. Then, I checked out my bedside table. It was a stainless steel, and it had an alarm clock, and a -get this- cell phone on it. At the foot of my bed, there was a bunch of shelving that held a TV, stereo, PS2, DVD player, and room for my stuff.

" Grandpa!" I gasped. "This is a lot! Wow! Thank you so much!"

"No problem, dear," he said sweetly. "And your cell phone number is on the screen, and our home number is listed in the directory. I'll be sure to tell Mariah what it is so she can call you."

"Thanks." I checked the cell phone's screen, sure enough, my number was right there.

"Like I said, it's not a problem," Grandpa Voltaire said. "By the way, Mariah might come over tomorrow, and show you and Kai around town. So, you might want to get some rest."

"Yes, Grandpa," I said, and he backed out of the room, turning out the main light, and closing the door behind him.

_I can't believe Grandpa did all this for us... It's really sweet of him... I just wish Mom could be here with us..._

I blinked a couple tears out of my eyes, put on a determined face, and collapsed on my bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

--------------------------------

When I woke up, I decided to check out the closet, and figure out where the bathroom was. I opened up the closet and saw a couple of hanger rods. I also spotted a light switch, which I pulled, since my drapes were closed, and it was dark. Once the light was on, I saw another door.

_This must be the bathroom._

Once I turned the silver nob, I found my guess to be true. I was faced with my very own bathroom. It was small, with a shower that had a high window right in it. If I stood on my tippy-toes, I could peek out, so, of course, there was a shower curtain over it. There was a pedestal sink, a medicine cabinet hidden behind a mirror, and a toilet. The walls were a dark crimson, a nice touch.

_When Grandpa wants something done, he does it right,_ I thought, with an impressed look around the room.

After showering, I went back into my room to pick out an outfit for the day. As usual, I chose my chinese clothing, i wore my black and silver suit then i brushed my hair.

I heard the door bell ring, and I decided it would be polite to greet Mariah, who I assumed would be there.

As soon as I shut my own door, I walked down the dark hallway, to the foyer, where a woman with a tall, slim frame, and firey red hair stood.

"Hey, Maria," I greeted in a low voice.

"Zoe," she said as she spotted the offspring of her dead aunt.

_Bitch_, I couldn't help but think. _She doesn't know, she doesn't care. I can see straight through that sympathetic expression._

She's only trying to be nice, said another voice in Mariahs's defense, but the first voice answered it viciously:

_I don't care. She doesn't know._

"I'm so sorry," she said, wrapping her arms around me; I stood, limp, in her grasp. "Let's just try to have fun today, though. Aunt Svetlana would have wanted that."

_She's right. Mom _would_ have wanted that. I should just let go... for today._

But not forget!

No, not forget.

"Hey, Mariah," Kai said, in the exact same way I did, earlier. He looked like he'd just gotten out of bed; his hair was messy, and he was only wearing boxers and a wife-beater.

"Kai," she said, gliding past me, and pulling Kai into a hug, just as she had done for me. "I'm just _so_ sorry about what happened, but, don't worry. Today is going to be a fun day. Today, you should just concentrate on being happy. Like I was just telling Zoe, it's what Svetlana would have wanted."

"I'll be in the car," I said, interrupting their little moment.

_Oops. That wasn't very polite of me. Oh, well. Too bad._

"Here's the arboretum," said Mariah, as we drove by the town's arboretum. "It's a nice place to think."

_Oh, you're _so_ helpful_, I thought sarcastically, secretly considering checking it out.

After driving a couple more minutes, Mariah parked the car and said, "Here we are!"

I hopped out of the car, and I noticed Kai and Mariah do the same.

We were probably in downtown Moscow. Looking up and down the street, I could see a couple family restaurants, a grocery store, a library, a town hall, a coffee shop (where we were at), and a record store right across the road.

_I'll definitely have to check that out._

I followed Mariah into the Starbucks (_They're everywhere!_), and allowed her to order a drink for me ("You will _love_ these!" she'd squealed).

At the table, I could vaguely hear Mariah babbling on about how we would love school, and the rest of Moscow. I wasn't really paying much attention, though.

I sipped my... uhh... whatever it was she'd ordered, and found that it was pretty okay. I usually thought coffee was disgusting, but whatever I was drinking was nice and sweet.

Sucking on the straw, I looked out the window over at the record store. I watched a few boys enter it.

There was a pale guy with jet-black hair leading the way, a kind small guy with light brown hair and big glasses after him, and a short blonde guy following them and then a bluenette guy with a hotdog half way down his throat.

"Kai, Zoe" Mariah interrupted my thoughts. "I'd like you to meet someone."

I looked up, and saw a girl about 5'7" with blonde hair up in a messy bun smiling down at me. I tried to smile, but her pink sweat pants and fake smile contorted it into more of a grimace.

"This is Jessica," Mariah announced.

"Hi!" Jessica chirped. "You can call me Jessy!" She stuck out her hand, and I cautiously took it. "And this is Clare," she added, letting go of my hand and pushing another girl towards me, while she moved onto my brother, whom she seemed to like.

Clare hadshoprt Blonde hair with loads of layers with a black bit in it aswell; I liked her much more than Jessy, already.

"Zoe," I said, getting up and putting my hand out.

"Like she said," Clare rolled her blue eyes over to Jessy, who was turning on the flirt full-blast to a repulsed-looking Kai, "I'm Clare."

"Cool," I replied, sitting back down, and motioning for her to do the same.

"I like your hair," she said, in a slightly monotonous voice. "It's really long... and black. Did you dye it?"

"Yeah, I like your hair, too. It's... edgy." i replied

"Thanks," she said.

For a while, we just sat there looking at each other, smiling a little, and nodding slightly. It was like we had this profound connection... like we just understood each other, even though we had just met.

"Let's ditch this snooze-fest and head over to Bobby's Records," Clare suggested. "It's much better than watching _this_ ditz." She jerked her thumb over at Jessy, before hopping down from her stool.

"Yeah," I agreed, looking over at Kai, who was hopelessly cornered by Jessy. "Poor Kai."

"Brother?" she asked me, referring to Kai, of course.

"Yeah, twin, actually," I said. Then, I asked Clare of Jessy, "Sister?"

"No, cousin," Clare replied dully, pushing open the door, and walking out onto the sidewalk. "I just have the misfortune of sharing the same school, and neighborhood. It's sad, I know."

I knew she didn't mean sad in a boo-hoo-I'm-gonna-cry way, but her saying the word 'sad' just tweaked something in me. It must have shown on my face, because a second later, Clare was asking me, as we crossed the street, "What's wrong?"

"You probably don't want to hear about it," I said, trying to shrug it off.

"No," she disagreed with what I had just said, in a concerned-friend way. "I _do_ want to hear about it."

We stopped in front of the door to the record store, and looked at each other for a bit.

I finally said, in a small voice, "My mom just died... and I just... remembered a little more intensely for a second."

"Oh my God," she said, looking ashamed of herself. "And here _I_ am talking about _my_ life being sad. I mean, plenty of things are fucked up in my neck of the woods, but your _mom_ dying. God, I am so sorry."

"No, no.." I said, trying to act like it didn't bother me that much. It wasn't her fault, and I didn't want her to feel bad about it. "It's not _your_ fault..."

"C'mere," she said, bringing me closer for a hug. I obliged, and rested my head on her shoulder. She was a bit taller than me at 5'6", so the hug fit nicely, and I was grateful for her kindness.

After a few seconds of letting the pain wear off, I stepped back, and said, "Thanks. It's nice to have a friend."

"Anytime," she said.

"Shall we?" I asked, gesturing towards the record store door.

"We shall," she answered, linking arms with me, and pulling me inside as the little bell atop the door rang. 


	3. What A Bitch

The store was dimly lit, and lined with cases of CDs, tapes, and records all over the place. In one of the back corners, there was a Juke Box filled with CDs, where a girl in a frilly skirt was standing. In the other back corner, there were a few guitars, which were being examined by the three guys from earlier.

"C'mon," Clare said, pulling me in the direction of the guitar corner. "Here are all the good CDs."

She was right; this _was_ where the good CDs were. We were in the rock section.

We started flipping through the CDs at random, until the frilly-skirted girl finally picked out a song. Clare and I both stopped dead, and looked at each other fearfully.

_Why Not_, by Hilary Duff (well not really _by_ her, just sung by her), had just started playing.

Seeing the look on Clare's face, I decided that she wouldn't be offended if I... poked a little fun at the song.

I acted quickly, so my window of opportunity didn't fade.

"Ahh!" I said loudly, covering my ears. "It's the music of the devil!" Then, I acted possessed, and said, "And it's telling me to kill!"

I lunged at Clare, who, by this time, was laughing hysterically, and started fake-choking her. She played along, making gurgling noises that I would have thought real, if she wasn't laughing so much and giving it away.

The frilly-skirt girl scoffed loudly, and stomped out of the store; I immediately stopped pretending to choke Clare, but neither of us ceased to laugh.

"Would someone... please... turn that crap off?!" Clare managed to get out between laughs.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guy with thick glasses obey, and switch the song to My Chemical Romance - I Never Told You What I Do For A Living.

"Thank you!" Clare and I shouted together, finally getting over our twitch giggle fit twitch.

"So, what's your name?" I asked the guy with glasses, since he'd practically saved our lives from the dreaded music of the devil.

"Kenny," he said. He seemed sort of shy, what a cutie.

Actually, they were _all_ good-looking, but before I could ask, Clare beat me to the punch line, saying, "And who're your friends, Kenny?"

"Rei," said the jet black-haired one, before Kenny could answer. "And this is Tyson."

The one Eating gave us a small wave.

"I'm Zoe," I said.

"I'm Clare," said Clare.

"Cool," they all murmured at different times (it would've been freaky if they'd said it together, huh?).

After a short pause, Clare said, indicating Tyson and Rei, "Hey, don't you two go to Roosevelt?"

Roosevelt was going to be my new school... and I guess it was where Clare went, too.

"Yep," answered Rei, while nodding a little.

"What about you, then?" I asked Kenny.

"Oh," he said nonchalantly. "I already graduated... A couple years ago."

"So you're what? Twenty?" I wanted to know.

"That would be correct," Kenny replied. (I know Kenny is he youngest, but he iusnt in this fic D)

"Cool."

"Yeah."

After another short silence, I began playing with near-by CD cases, until one in particular caught my eye. _Coldplay, X&Y_. Usually, bands like them were too mellow for my taste, but... what could I say, I liked them.

I sensed Rei lean in a bit to see what I had picked up, and before I could block it, Kenny was shoving Rei at me, and laughing mindlessly.

"Hey!" I shouted at Kenny.

Rei muttered an apology, and started to back away, but he stopped abruptly, and said, "Ow! My lip!"

At the same time, I yelled, "Ow! My hair!"

My hair had gotten caught in Rei's lip ring!

Kenny laughed even harder at this, and was soon joined by Tyson and Clare

"Kenny!" I whined. "You ass!"

He had probably just wanted attention, and, I guess I was giving it to him.

_Darn him. Darn him to heck._ I wasn't really too mad.

I said to Rei, "Here." I moved in a little closer, to give my hair some slack, since he had gotten caught in the upper-portion of my hair. Then, I told him to stay still, as I lifted his chin. It was really nice to be close to him.

_Damn, he smells good._

Since he was really hot, I took my time, and made sure to be very gentle, unwinding each strand with special attention. I noticed Rei's eyes wandering the room, trying desperately not to look into _my_ eyes, and failing every once-in-a-while. It was mighty cute, and I had to admit, I was enjoying all the butterflies I was getting from these guys; not only the butterflies from Rei, but the butterflies from Kenny, and- to a lesser degree, since I suspected Clare liked him- butterflies from Tyson.

"There," I said, when we were unstuck from each other. By that time, Kenny, Tyson and Clare were all sighing off their laughs.

Rei took advantage of Kenny's temporary lack of attention, and punched him in the stomach.

"Ah," Kenny grunted. "Christ! I'm sorry, okay?!"

Rei just massaged his lip for a while before saying, "Damn, Kenny, I just got this done a couple of weeks ago. Now it hurts like hell."

"Aw," I said sympathetically, draping an arm over Rei's shoulders. "It's okay." I gave him a quick side-hug.

He played along and hugged me, putting his head on my shoulder, and saying in a baby voice, "Kenny's being a meanie."

"Shh," I said, rocking him side-to-side, giving Kenny a fake glare, followed by a smile.

Kenny rolled his eyes at my behavior with Rei "Get a room," he said.

I let go of Rei with reluctance, and allowed him to back away.

Just then, the door swung open, revealing Mariah, Jessy, and Kai a little farther back.

"Clare! Zobo!" _Jessy did not just call me 'Zobo'_. "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

She quickly ran over to us, and gave us both hugs.

"Yeah, because we were in _so_ much danger," I muttered sarcastically, receiving smirks from Tyson, Kenny And Rei.

"Silly," she said, pushing my arm; I just about gagged. "C'mon, we're all going to your house- I mean, your _Aunt's_ house- sorry."

I gritted my teeth. _What a bitch. I cannot believe she would say something like that._

I pushed past her and ran out of the store.

Before I got out, though, I could hear Clare smack Jessy. HARD.

I spent the rest of the day locked in my room, staring up at the ceiling.

_She did that on purpose. She just _had_ to bring up my pain. "...Your house-I mean-your aunt's house..." Bitch!_

She wants me to suffer, there's no other explanation!

Jessy must be punished!

Wait... what?! "Punished?" What am I saying?

...I could put dye in her shampoo...

NO!

...yeah, dye...

Oh my God, why_ am I thinking about sabotaging her hair? Now who's the bitch?_

Me. Dye will do fine.

No, it won't. I am not dying Jessy's hair.

What if she does it again?

...Well, if that's the case...

You know you wanna.

Okay. If she does, or says, something terrible again...

She'll have green hair-

-temporarily!

Temporarily, fine.

"Zoe," called Clare for the fifteenth time, finally grabbing my attention. "Zoe, please come out."

I got up and went over to the door.

"Zo-oh," Clare said, surprised that I had actually opened the door.

She stepped inside, and I closed the door behind her, forgetting to lock it.

"Jessy can be a real bitch, sometimes," Clare said, once we were settled. "You shouldn't pay attention to her. She's probably just jealous of-"

"Jealous?" I asked; the word had struck me like a fork in the eye. "What's she got to be jealous of?"

"You," Clare answered simply.

_Excuse me?_"What? Why?"

"She probably thinks your a match to her _blinding beauty_," Clare told me, sarcasm dripping from 'blinding' and 'beauty'.

I blinked a few times. _What is she talking about? I'm not pretty... am I? I mean... I... No one has EVER told me that I'm pretty before... Except my mom, but that doesn't count..._

"You're kidding, right?" I said, after a bit more thought.

"Sadly, no," Clare said sardonically. "And, now, she probably will push your buttons to stress you out, and make herself feel better; she wants NO competition."

"B-but.." I stammered angrily. "That's not fair! She's going to remind me of my mom dying all the time just because she thinks I could be _competition_?" I would guess that my face displayed an expression of utter disgust, at the moment. "Does she do it to you, too?"I thought that Clare was pretty, so I wanted to know if Jessy put her through this, too.

"Yeah," she muttered. "For me, she calls me freak at school, and stuff. One time, I told my mom, who told her mom. She denied it, started crying like a baby, and called me a liar."

I looked at her with disbelief. _Jessy is EVIL_.

"She messes with you- and now she's going to mess with me- because she thinks that we're better looking than her?" I yelled. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard."

"I know," said Clare, sympathizing with me. "But that's just the way Jessy's mind works."

_I'm going to be punished for something that I don't even think is true. This is just great. Isn't my life bad enough as it is? Why?_ I was feeling very frustrated with Jessy for the second time that day.

"You know," I said, a strange thought occurring to me. "Why does she even think of us as-uh- 'competition' when we're, if we must be stereotyped, punk? I mean, she's obviously a prep, why would she even care about our existance?"

"I think it's because she finds herself safe-commercial pretty, and thinks that you-"

"-we-"

"-are edgy-model pretty," she explained.

"This whole thing just makes me _so_ pissed off," I fumed.

Clare scoffed, "I know-" but she stopped as Mariah peeped her head into my room.

"Hi," Mariah greeted meekly.

"Hey," I replied, to be polite, even though my voice was dull.

"Clare, it's time for you to go home," she informed Clare. "But, you can come back over tomorrow with Jessy, if you want to come shopping with us."

"We're going shopping, tomorrow?" I asked. My voice was a little fierce, to my surprise, and shame.

"Yeah," Mariah said, in a voice that made me think she was under the impression I'd murder her if she was too loud. "Mom's having a cocktail party in a few days, and she want's us to dress up for it. She also says that she thinks it would be a good time for you to get new school clothes."

"_Fun_," I said sarcastically.

"Well," said Clare. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Bye," I said with a smile. I had nothing against Clare, so I didn't want to make _her_ feel bad just because of _my_ crappy mood.

"_Goodnight_, Mariah," I said pointedly, when Clare had gone, and Mariah had stayed.

"I'm really sorry," she said. It caught me off guard, but it sounded like she meant it. "About everything that happened today."

Without even thinking, since that's the kind of person I was-apologize to me, you're forgiven, don't apologize (when you've done something bad, which I guess Mariah really hadn't in the first place), you are fucking LOATHED- I said, in a softer voice, "Oh. Well. It wasn't a total waste. I met Clare. And that arboretum sounds nice."

She smiled weakly, and said, "See you in the morning, Zoe."

That night, I dreamt about the pale guy, Tyson,and the Chinese guy, Rei.

It wasn't like my normal dreams, though. In my normal dreams, I'm usually taller than Kai, or something, and rubbing it in his face. Of course, when I get up from those, I'm still a shortie, but that's just how my dreams go. My dreams are usually really stupid, but the one I had that night was so different.

**I was sitting in a boat with Tyson, and I was laughing. He started leaning into me, and soon, he was kissing me. He was a really good kisser, but it was kind of sudden. When we pulled away from each other, I blushed and turned away.**

When I turned back, I was no longer sitting in a boat, but on a bench, surrounded by flowers, and other plants, and instead of Tyson, Rei was there. He was looking at me with a really sad, almost pleading, look. For some reason, tears were coming out of my eyes. Soon, I couldn't take it anymore, so I got up and ran.

The plants changed to a blur of grey and then stormy beach as I fled, Rei close behind me.

I felt a hand grasp my shoulder and spin me around. Rei was there. He put his other hand on my other shoulder and he kissed me, all the while, bringing one of his hands to the nape of my neck. I just melted into him.

Then, the dream ended.

Weird, huh?

I got out of bed, and went through my closet, and into the bathroom. I took a shower, and, when I was done, I applied eye-makeup, and walked back into my room.

I put on my normal atire but in dark blue and white.

Just on cue, I heard a knock at the front door. I hurried out of my room, and into the entry way to open the door to a person who I assumed was Clare.

I opened the door, but, to my surprise, it wasn't Clare at all; there in front of me were three boys I recognized as Kenny, Tyson and Rei.


End file.
